More and more businesses are realizing the value of personalization. 89% of organizations with a digital presence have invested in it, because they recognize there is solid and measurable ROI to be had.

Content tailored to individual customer segments is improving customer experiences and boosting the revenues of personalization leaders by up to 15%.

While personalization has huge promise, marketers and content creators have to contend with the huge amount of work needed to meet the ever-increasing demand for content.

Say a business has identified 10 different customer segments to address with content. This same company knows that it has to create 200 pieces of content associated with the average buyer journey (which isn’t uncommon). To deliver perfect personalization for each segment, the marketing team will now have to create 2,000 pieces of content.

This team also needs a system that can effectively deliver content to the right audience, at the right point in the journey, without unduly burdening the IT team. It seems like a big ask, right? And that’s before we even think about the total cost of ownership for technology.

However, none of this should prevent companies from implementing personalization. Not anymore. Today, there are clear paths to scalable personalization that don’t result in monumental costs or exploded team budgets. It all comes down to how you approach the personalization project.

Delivering personalized content at scale
Scaling personalization follows the trajectory of any other digital project. Process optimization, automation and organizational change management are all keys to paving the path towards a digitally mature business with scalable personalization capabilities.

So, the good news is that building a personalization program is far from a ‘one and done’ process. It takes time, iteration and a solid strategy. Like in life, teams need to be able to crawl before they can run – and that means getting comfortable with working methodically, and with agility, through your roadmap.

Your roadmap to scaling personalization
Companies no longer have to completely transform their business all at once to start seeing results. In fact, the best way to scale is to take it one step at a time. We refer to this iterative evolution as the “Crawl, Walk, Run” approach. The graphic below explains it in more detail.

How to start running
You don’t typically train for a marathon by going straight from the couch to performing a 20-mile run. And you wouldn’t want to run a race without solid advice from a professional or medical expert either.

Avanade has supported countless businesses through their journey to reach personalization maturity. Our advisory and technical services teams can help you get up to speed faster, and without causing your operation any injuries along the way.

But, like a runner, you need the right tools to go the distance. Powerful digital technologies like Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) allow for scale and velocity.

AEM can help you quickly scale your personalization operations by building personalized experiences from content fragments – essentially the building blocks of content that form the basis for individual personalization.

AEM, alongside Adobe Target, can help organizations of all sizes and all levels of personalization maturity to scale their efforts. Adobe Target seamlessly delivers personalized content to digital channels based on pre-defined criteria and includes learning algorithms to increase personalization performance. Target also allows you to measure your efforts, which takes the guesswork out of your investment.

Avanade’s Digital Experience Foundation Accelerator enhances the capabilities of both technologies, allowing you to deliver content at scale without the large overhead. This specialized tool provides templates to make personalization almost ‘drag and drop’ simple.

Why scalability matters
Purchasing decisions are usually made based on a customer’s perception of how well a business speaks to their needs, wants and expectations. This is what ultimately drives their loyalty.

If you can’t scale content personalization, you may be missing out on reaching potential customer segments with the information that will convert them into loyal purchasers.

Personalization is mission critical for businesses today, especially in busy retail markets. Research suggests that 44% of customers would be willing to switch their loyalties to businesses that do personalization better.

Achieving scalable personalization allows you to reach and convert customers. But, of course, we know that every business will have different content needs. The Avanade team can help you find a tailored solution to get you from crawling to running quickly.

Do you recognize these content scaling challenges within your own business? How do you plan to overcome them? Share your comments below or continue the conversation on social media.

Visit this page to learn more about building a better customer experience with Avanade and Adobe.